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Book I--Chapter 1: Five Years Ago

Luca Vosz and Ash Black had been best friends for as long as either of them could remember. Looking back, it had to have been almost twenty years ago. They lived on the same block, and their parents were friends. Consequently, they met each other when they were both toddlers, and the fox and raccoon played together all the time, becoming fast friends.

When they got old enough for school, Ash's mom put him in the same class as Luca, even though he was a whole year younger. It wasn't as much because they were inseparable, but more because Mrs. Black wanted to show off her little brain child. Ash was at the top of the class every year, while Luca sat comfortably in the higher middle-class population of the grade point averages. He was smart--not as smart as Ash--but he was lazy to a fault. In truth, he was actually quicker witted than Ash, but in school, that didn't matter as much as book smarts.

Although they became even more different in high school, they couldn't have been closer friends. Ash became the shy bookworm that the other students came to for tutoring, while Luca became quite good-looking, and thus popular. He refused to do drugs and drink like most of the other kids did because he thought it was a waste of time, not to mention a pretty dumb idea. He liked to have fun on his own terms, not those of a chemical. It was also a lot more fun to watch someone make an ass of himself and be the one to tell everyone about it.

Not that he really cared about it much, but Luca stayed a virgin throughout high school, despite the myriads of girlfriends he had. He'd made out with them and gotten sexual, but he'd never gone all the way. He saw himself as being above all the other whores who were in it for sex. He wanted to wait for someone who wanted him for him, not just his body. It should go without saying that Ash never had a girlfriend, and stayed quite un-laid.

But everything changed radically during their senior year. It started on a day mid-March, when the sun had finally come out after days of cloudy skies. It was consequently the warmest day they'd had in a long while. Ash and Luca were walking to Ash's house after school. They had gotten their test scores back in physics class, and Ash had once again gotten the highest score.

" He was looking at one of the last problems on the test--easily the hardest problem out of them all.

Luca peered over his friend's shoulder at the test, looking over the problem and the teacher's writing on it. "What are you talking about? You got the highest score and set the curve like you always do. What's a couple points missed?"

Ash scoffed. "It doesn't matter that I set the curve again. I wanted to get a perfect score without a grade bump."

"Over-achiever..." Luca muttered.

"Under-achiever," the coon retorted, laughing. "Who's the one who tried to get me to help him study for the test without saying it outright? I seem to recall a certain fox 'quizzing' me over the equations and theories for this section. You knew I had them all down, and I know your tricks. You were making it look like you were helping me, but you got to go over all the stuff for the test anyway."

Luca grinned sheepishly. "Well, Rocky, you caught me. But I got an 85 on it, and you can't really call that under-achieving."

Ash put his ears back a little and smacked the fox with his test. "Stop calling me that, you dork! And you are an under-achiever! If you put your mind into it, you could get the same grades I do!" He revised his statement, folding his arms over his chest. "Well, almost as good, anyway."

He was about to laugh, but an earsplitting noise filled the air. It was a horrible screeching noise, so loud it bodies shake a little with its sheer pressure. Both boys had to cover their ears with their paws to try and block it out.

"What the hell's going on!?" Luca shouted, barely audible over the awful clamor even at his highest volume. As if in answer, the screech got even louder, and a great shadow dwarfed the two of them. They instinctively looked up and saw something neither of them had ever expected.

The first impossibility was how it could have gotten so close without either of them noticing. The next, of course, was how it could even exist. Behind them, standing at least 30 or 40 feet tall, was a hideous beast, neither creature nor machine, but at the same time both. It had three long, spindly legs that supported it despite its apparent weight. At the top was the head and body--all one piece, the way an insect is. It reminded Luca of a spider, maybe the offspring of a spaceship. Most of its body was covered by a metallic shell, separated at the joints in its legs and in various places on its body. There were no eyes to be seen, but both boys felt its gaze upon them.

On the creature's underside were three little prongs with a dark metallic orb hanging in the middle. It looked sort of like a grotesque light fixture. Without any warning, a blue light started to emanate from the dark ball. It began to get brighter and brighter as it emitted an eerily soothing hum. Something jolted through Luca's head and he broke his gaze from it. He shook Ash out of his trance, but didn't wait for a response. He grabbed his friend's paw firmly and started running faster than he ever had before.

"L-luca!? What are you doing?" Ash spluttered, stumbling over his own feet as he got pulled along. He didn't dare stop or fight it, because something told him Luca was right, whatever he was doing.

Luca didn't answer, but kept pulling Ash along with him, not daring to waste any time by looking back. He turned sharply into an alleyway and flung himself against the wall, pulling Ash up against him with his arms wrapped tightly around him.

Ash blushed a little and put his ears back in embarrassment. "Luca, what's--?" But before he could finish his question, he got his reply. The entire alleyway lit up in a blinding flash of blue light. Rather than making a loud noise, as an explosion would, it instead seemed to cause a temporary void, like someone had pressed the 'mute' button. The source of the havoc was an enormous beam of light coursing down the street they'd been running on mere seconds earlier. It subsided suddenly, and as soon as it did, sound fell heavily upon their ears again, seeming even louder than before. And so it was--there were far off explosions going on at a near constant pace, and people could be heard screaming in many different directions.

But before either of the boys could even breathe, they found themselves staring once more at the hideous creature, now standing at the end of the alley. It was too massive to fit through, but then again, it didn't need to. The little blue light started to glow and hum again, and there was no escape this time--no corner to turn and hide behind. The light grew to a blinding intensity, and the air around them grew oddly still. Ash pressed himself so hard into Luca that he was almost crushing the fox and clenched his eyes shut. "I don't want to die!" he cried, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes.

Luca could do nothing but stare widely at his impending fate. He held his best friend close to him, but couldn't find anything to say. He closed his eyes and resigned to his fate. He gritted his teeth and braced himself for whatever that awful beam must feel like as it rips your entire being into nothingness. There was a loud explosion and a flash of light, but he was quite sure that he was still standing there, alive for the most part. He opened one of his eyes just enough to see what had happened.

The behemoth was still in the same spot it had been before, but it seemed to be turned the other way now. On its hull, where the falsely innocent blue light had been, was a smoldering crater. Somehow, something had saved them. Luca shook Ash lightly to get him to open his eyes, and with a slight motion of his head to the side, told him to look and see what was going on.

Ash very slowly craned his neck around the edge of the wall. Luca could tell by looking at how wide his eyes were that he was still in a state of shock and fear. Luca was scared too, of course, but he had more control over himself in situations like this. Ash turned his head, looking back at the fox, and said quietly, "Tank."

Luca cocked his head to the side, his ears perking up to try and hear better. "What?"

"Tank," the coon repeated.

"Tank?" Luca finally let go of Ash, having nearly forgotten that he was still crushing the other boy in his arms. He peeked around the corner, and there was indeed a tank--the kind the military uses--facing off against the threat. The fox pulled his head back around the corner just as another blast shook the area. He wanted to know which side was winning, but he didn't want to risk his own safety by looking again. So instead, he stood there, propped up against the wall.

After a few more shaking explosions, an earsplitting shriek filled the air. It came from the creature, a horrible din filled with anger and pain. It swiveled, turning away from its opponent. Before it could even attempt to retreat, it was shot from behind with another blast from the tank. It stumbled forward, teetered on its leg for a moment, and crumpled under its weight. With a thundering crash it connected with the ground. It twitched for a while, insect-like, before it ceased movement altogether.

As he regained his hearing, Luca picked up voices coming from the street. He nodded to Ash, signaling him to follow. He left the alley to see who was there--and more importantly, to find out what was going on. As they came out from the dark alleyway, a Doberman in military uniform barked at them, "Hold it, you two! Paws where I can see 'em!" He aimed a rifle at Luca and motioned the barrel upward.

"Are you kidding me!?" Luca growled back. Ash started to lift his paws up, but Luca hit them down and shot a disapproving look at his friend before turning back to the dog. "What are you trying to start? We've got nothing to do with this! We nearly got blown to bits by that thing!"

The dog grunted and put down his gun. "Yeah, I suppose you're right, kid. I'm just a bit tense, what with the inva--" he caught himself and changed subject abruptly. "You boys had better get home quick if you know what's good for you."

"And if we don't? Don't play with me--I know something's going down. That thing," he pointed to the enormous corpse only yards away, "is proof enough." Luca said matter-of-factly.

"Hold your tongue, boy!" The boys' heads turned, only now noticing the wolf who had been standing a little behind the dog. He leaned against the tank coolly before he continued. " Do you have any idea who you're talking to? I'll have you know that that's Sergeant Noonan of the United Lylan Forces army. We're not allowed to disclose any information to civilians at this time, except that you need to go to your family before we begin the evacuation."

Ash started to say something, but Luca cut him off. "What evacuation? I want to know what the hell's going on now! Who cares if I'm a civilian?" he sneered.

"The military, that's who. You might have some balls to stand up to me like that kid, but they're a little too big on you," the dog growled. "You'd better wise up or you'll get what's coming to you. If you're so determined to know what's going on, then how's about I tell ya...once I draft your sorry ass!"

Luca started, but bit his lip and glowered at the dog. "I..." he looked to Ash questioningly, and the raccoon simply gave a little nod. "Fine. You win." The dog's muzzle spread in a sneering grin, but his jaw dropped a little when the boy continued. "We'll go with you. I'm not stupid--I know I've got a better chance if I go along than if I stay here."

The sergeant was about to retort again, but he stopped himself and cocked his head in thought. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting that..." he rubbed his temple as he thought. "We're not really... but I guess it's too late now." He tossed his head to the side, motioning the two boys over to the vehicle. "C'mon. If you're coming, you'd better hurry up. I'll have Shiev here," he gestured to the wolf, "fill you both in on the situation."

Luca nodded and looked to Ash. Ash held his head in his paws for a moment before he looked back up at the fox. "Luca, I..." He shook his head, making up his mind. "I'll follow you, Luca. I trust you, and if you think this is the better way, then I'm coming with you. Besides, someone has to keep you out of trouble." He smiled weakly at his friend, tears forming in his eyes. It was obvious that he was trying not to think about leaving his family behind.

Luca realized with a slight pang that he might not see his family either. He took Ash's paw and squeezed it in his own. "It'll be alright, Ash. We'll... we'll at least have each other. Try not to think about it, okay?" He turned to the dog, who was waiting patiently despite the chaos that was steadily growing throughout the city. "Sergeant, Sir, we're ready."

Noonan nodded and motioned them to get in the vehicle. The four of them clambered into the tank, fortunately unaware of the darkening sky. There were no clouds--the sun was being blocked out by hundreds of ships, varying in size and type. Some were obvious assault ships, while others seemed to be for transport. It was an invasion.

As they rode in the tank, the wolf briefed the two boys in what was transpiring. Their planet, Lyla, was being invaded worldwide by an alien race known as the Malus. They had come all at once, swarming over the planet and attacking its largest cities first. The Lylans had sent a distress signal to Aeveia, the planet of the bird people, but there was little hope. Instead, the Lylan governments agreed to evacuate as many to safety as possible, rather than try to fight and end up losing everything. It was easy enough to set up camps on the other planets in the Altos star system, but the problem was getting them all there.

Wormhole technology existed, but it was rare and only found in top secret military facilities at the time. There simply weren't enough transport ships to evacuate an entire race quickly, thus many would be lost. The aliens had sent a single message almost immediately before the attack started, stating: "Your land belongs to the Malus now. Should you resist our takeover, you will be eliminated." Key leaders surmised that the Malus' star system was in danger of dying out, and that they were seeking new habitation. However, they weren't giving up so easily. The Lylans and the Aeveians were forming an alliance to eliminate the huge threat. It was apparent that the Malus would not be satisfied with just one planet, so they would need to work together in order to stay alive.

Currently, the Malus were performing aerial sweeps, gathering intelligence and wiping out the majority of defenses being put up. Soon, they'd be deploying forces to storm through and pick off anything left behind. The dog, fox, and raccoon were on their way toward the military base a few miles outside the city. Noonan explained that there was a wormhole there that lead to Aeveia, where the main headquarters of the Resistance would be forming. He stated with some difficulty that Lyla was most certainly going to be lost. Some of the army would be staying behind in an attempt to defend the civilians that still required evacuation, but it was a dead man's duty. The planet's defenses would not hold up long. They'd been caught off guard entirely, and with no preparation, it was impossible to defend Lyla for very long.

By the time Shiev was done explaining the situation, they'd arrived at the base and gotten clearance. The sergeant hurried them along through the base, keeping quiet along the way. He stopped as they came to a turn and said something quietly to Shiev, who nodded. The dog kept on straight, while Shiev led them around the corner.

They went down a few flights of stairs and found themselves in a hallway lit dimly by greenish fluorescent lights along the ceiling. They walked briskly along the passage way until they came to the end, where a computer station sat next to a large device neither of the boys had ever seen before. It was essentially a circular platform, made of some kind of blackish metal, with a large ring about eight feet above it.

Shiev pressed a few buttons on the console, and the ring started to spin around slowly at first, then faster by degrees, until it was humming softly in blurred motion. A tiny spark lit up in the air at the center of the ring, and it grew, like a tiny bubbling explosion. It gradually flattened out and connected to the metal ring, a flat disk held of energy held in the air by some unknown force.

"Is that a wormhole?" Ash asked, his jaw open.

Shiev laughed. "Not quite, kid. You'll see that soon enough. This is a proximity teleporter. It'll take you two to the wormhole. Step on the platform, one at a time."

Ash shoved Luca forward a little, causing him to stumble. "You first," he said nervously. The fox nodded and stepped onto the platform.

"Will it hurt?" Luca asked the wolf, his paws clutching at his pants fretfully. Shiev shook his head and pushed one of the buttons on the console. The whole machine shook a little, causing Luca to jump in surprise. The ominous spinning ring began lowering itself toward the anxious fox. The glowing disk of energy came closer and closer to the fox's head, and he lowered his ears when it got to them, which caused the wolf to snicker. Finally, the ring came down over Luca's head, and it gave him a strange feeling, like he was underwater. His vision swam before him, growing dimmer and dimmer. The ring was now around his chest, and the sensation of being slowly dunked into water upside down was strong. He wanted it to go faster--he was holding his breath during the entire process, and breathing was something he found to be particularly important.

Then, as his lungs started to burn, he felt himself being spun around rapidly. It was like he was being pushed through a pipe rolling down an underwater hill, and the feeling was anything but pleasant. He suddenly stumbled forward, falling onto the ground. Someone picked him up and sat him down next to them. His head was reeling, and he vaguely realized that it was a woman when she spoke to him. "First time teleporting? You're not the only one to get sick from it; it takes getting used to. What's a cute little boy like you doing here, anyway?"

Luca felt his face heat up a little at the remark, and he tried to shake out the blur from his sight. He held his head in his paws for a moment, and when he opened his eyes again, he could see a little better. The voice belonged to a feline, maybe in her late twenties. He groaned. "I'm gonna be sick..."

She chuckled and patted him on the back. "You'll get over it soon, trust me." She held out a paw to him. "Name's Kira. I'm one of the head technicians here. I'm sort of in charge of getting evacuees through the wormhole safely. But we're not supposed to be getting any yet..." she trailed off as she watched him.

As the cat told him, Luca was already starting to feel a little better. "Me and my friend just got..er...drafted I suppose. Shiev didn't really explain what we do next..."

Kira smiled and put her paw on Luca's shoulder. As she did, Ash came stumbling out of the teleporter in the same fashion as Luca had. Kira helped him up and sat him next to the fox. "So this is your friend, eh?" She grinned. "Both of you are too cute to get into this if you ask me. Are you even old enough to join?"

Luca answered for Ash, who was still lurching forward as though he might vomit at any moment. "I'm eighteen...but Ash is only seventeen. I don't think it really matters at this point does it? I know he's too young still to be in the army, but they've got to have a use for him--he's a genius." Ash protested with a defeated grunt.

Kira thought for a moment then nodded. "The military doesn't actually place any restrictions on the tech branch. As long as he can pass an entrance exam, he's in. He won't be fighting, but then again, he doesn't really look like much of a fighter anyway," she said with a giggle.

After a brief moment of silence, Shiev came through the teleporter, though rather than stumble out like Luca and Ash had, he simply strode calmly forward, wearing a grin as he noticed the surprised looks on the boys' faces. "Hello again," he waved to them. He smiled and nodded at the cat, greeting her. "Kira. I hope you haven't harassed them too much," he chuckled, and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Luca and Ash, right? Vosz and Black?"

Luca cocked his head, answering slowly. "Yeah, that's us, but... we didn't give our names...did we?"

Kira smiled and answered him, "Technically, no. But you can't underestimate the government. I bet you had no idea that we've got a database of DNA fingerprints. It should come as no added surprised that you and your friend are in it." She turned around in her chair and pointed to the monitor. "See here? When you two came through the teleporter, it had to be verified that you had permission--that you weren't a spy or otherwise hostile. So you were scanned and your data was matched, then you got whisked here. It's fairly simple really, it just reads the nucleotide chain evident on your ..." she continued on, her words growing larger exponentially.

Shiev rolled his eyes and stole their attention from the cat. "She's a total nerd. Cute, but nerdy," he said with a smile as the cat continued to spout off the workings, almost as though she were in a trance. "She's right, though. It's sort of complicated, but the database is like a way for the government to compile information about the population quickly and easily. So it might seem weird to feel scanned like a barcode and have you name and information pop up, but it helps us out a lot. Besides, you could have offered your names in the first place.

"But enough about that. As you can tell, we're not here for fun and games. We've gotta get both of you out of here and put somewhere where you'll be of use to us. I know it sounds a little late in the game for you to be trained, but for now, we won't need you right away on the battlefield. You'll be much more useful if you're skilled, even if it takes some time. Noonan has some crazy idea that you two are something special--he told me he had his 'Gut Feeling' on this one--so he's instructed me to go along with you two and personally oversee you."

By now, both Luca and Ash had gotten over their sickness and were following the wolf in his speech. Ash spoke up when Shiev had finished. "So... you're like our supervisor?"

"Yes, but you can think of me as a friend too. There's something about you, kind of like Noonan said... and I like it. You two can wait over there while I talk with Kira about something for a while, okay?" He pointed across the room, nowhere in particular, but away.

It wasn't until then that either of the boys had paid much attention to the rest of the room. First of all, it was large, with a high ceiling. There were plenty of other furs there as well. Many of them were sitting and chatting with each other, while some others were pacing around nervously. Suppliers had stands set up, selling things as ranging anywhere from weapons and ammunition to food and luxuries not found on the battlefield. Ash spotted the main event of the area, and his eyes grew wide with amazement. "Wormhole..."

Luca turned to look where Ash was so he could see it too. The wormhole was nothing short of amazing in appearance. It was similar to the teleporter they had come out of, but at the same time, it was on a completely different tier. There was a large circular platform that was raised above the ground by about five feet, with larger circles extending down from it to make stairs. Suspended in the air and spinning rapidly was a large halo. It encompassed the entire platform at least, though it was a good ten feet above it. A bluish column of swirling light rose up from the edges of the platform and connected to the spinning halo, looking almost like hundreds of threads being spooled.

"Neat, isn't it?" Shiev asked, causing Luca and Ash to jump in surprise. "Yeah, that's the wormhole. Don't ask how it works--I doubt anyone here knows anyway." He checked his watch. "Good. The next wave goes in about five minutes. We'll be getting on."

"So it works on a schedule?" Ash asked, already interested in the technology involved.

"Yeah. I don't know what'd happen if you stepped on one at the wrong time. I'm pretty sure it doesn't connect to the same exit all the time, and that's why we have to wait for it. But it's easy to tell when to board it, because all those lights will glow bright white."

"Wow," Ash breathed, not taking his eyes off the impressive machinery.

Kira came up to them and shook her head. "Boys. So easy to entertain. Go on, scoot. You'd better get ready to go. There's only a couple minutes left. And you're both sure this is what you want, right? There's no turning back once you go through."

Luca nodded and looked back at Ash. "Rocky? You're with me on this, right?"

Ash scoffed at the name, but smiled despite himself. "Yeah, I'm in."

The four of them stood there in an awkward silence as they waited for the wormhole to do...well, whatever it did when their wait was up. At last, it happened just like Kira told them it would. The blue strings of light that were being twisted around and around between the top and bottom started getting brighter by degrees, eventually becoming a luminescent white.

Luca looked up at the massive apparatus inquisitively. "Do I just... walk on in?" he asked apprehensively. Kira nodded and then turned to whisper something into Shiev's ear. Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw her plant a little kiss on his cheek as well. He swallowed his nerves and tugged on Ash to come with him. Shiev caught up to them after a moment and stuck his tongue out at the smirk Luca gave him.

"Here goes..." Luca stepped through the veil of light at the same time as the raccoon and the wolf. The light felt warm on his skin, sort of like sunlight, but distinctly different in a way the fox couldn't describe. It was foreign, but almost familiar to him as well. After that initial sensation and after he had passed through, Luca felt a strong tug from somewhere behind his navel, like a fish hook had caught deep in him and its line was connected to the center of the mechanism, a few feet up in the air. It wasn't painful, but it certainly wasn't pleasant either. His feet slowly left the ground, and he looked instinctively to the other two.

Ash had one eye barely open and the other shut tight, apparently unsure of whether or not he really wanted to see what would happen. Shiev looked back at him, but didn't have a chance to say anything. The tug behind Luca's navel had changed from light and gentle to violent. He was yanked forcefully forward, but also around, the way a whirlpool ensnares its prey. Everything became a blur--sights, sounds, and sensations. The feeling of being spun around rapidly grew stronger and stronger until there was only darkness and silence.